Power Rangers: Ultra Force
by ShinySephiroth
Summary: The year is 2020. General Nek Atlas has proclaimed all rangers as fugitives. Anyone with a morpher is to immediately surrender it to him. Secretly, Gosei and Mystic Mother hatch a plan to pull off one last miracle. Using energy left in the Power Coins, five gauntlets were created to defeat the evil general. The chosen warriors come together to become Power Rangers: Ultra Force!
1. Chapter 1: The Ultra Defense

**NOTE - This is transcribed from a story started by Shrike on Rangerboard. The authors were ShinySephiroth, MichelleTheEditor, RedLegacyRanger, Mikey Yamamoto, coolbluetj, U.R Dimand, Black Dragonrang, Shrike, and MASTERMIKE2010

 **The Ultra Defense**

Gosei scowled as he looked at the acts of the new general on Earth. Making all the rangers surrender their gear and equipment... it sickened him.

"It's time..." He said, holding out his hand.

It was simple: Gosei sent out a pulse of power from himself, summoning those who the power said would be worthy to be the next generation of Power Rangers. There was no time to waste and Gosei had a lot to do. The new team was going to have to be a lot stronger than his Megaforce team if they were to succeed.

. . .

A young man named Blake Maxwell was walking to the train station from his house. His mind was preoccupied with many things as, suddenly, he began to glow a fiery red color.

"What the heck is happening!?" He managed to yell before he vanished.

. . .

Carissa Williams stared at a blank computer screen, typing a few lines before realizing how dissatisfied she was with her entry. Sighing, she deleted it. A reassuring hand cupped her back. Turning, she looked up at her counselor.

"I don't think I can do this..." she said.

The counselor took a moment, searching for the right words before offering his response. "You can not force words on the page, you have to let them organically flow on the paper".

She rolled her eyes before saying, "Maybe if you gave me a more interesting story to write about than those pretentious jocks... I could-"

"Carissa. We've went over this. There is more to people than you think. Why don't you take a break and come back to it?" He stated, interrupting her.

Irritated, she grabbed her backpack and headed out of the classroom. As she walked away, trying to calm herself down, she suddenly felt a tingling sensation. Everything became a blur as she suddenly vanished, engulfed in pink light.

. . .

Walking alone in his backyard, just minding his own business, Sean Anderson stared down at the grass. He wasn't quite sure precisely why he was outside at that moment. He had a lot on his mind, especially dealing with the tremendous load his life carried with it on his shoulders, and had just wanted a moment away from life with his Uncle Sal. He felt that familiar aching of being lost that came to him often after his accident. He clenched his fist as he tried to fight back the waves of anger that he often had to bottle up to stop them from boiling up to the surface.

As he walked, he noticed a strange light appear around him. It was odd because the light was _black_ , which didn't seem possible to Sean. Its glow didn't feel dark... no, it felt like light and... _Hope_. As he began to vanish, a strange spark appeared and the black light vanished.

"What's going on...!?" He thought outloud in distress.

 _Morgan..._

"Huh!?" He cried out. "Who said that!?"

Before he could question further what had just occurred, the black light once again enveloped him. He could see the spark from before once again interact (interfere?) with the black light, but that time instead of sparking violently, he vanished.

. . .

Marcus Barton walked happily down the street of his neighborhood, his dog being held by a leash attached to the collar. Things were going very well for Marcus in his life. He supposed that from then on out, his life would be pretty much set on easy. That was until the blue light began to wrap itself around him.

"What in the-!?" He managed to sputter out before both he and his dog vanished.

. . .

Maya Fraker was sitting on a subway bench, her ears covered by Beatz headphones. The music drowned out the sound of the individuals hopping on and off the train. She had a black pen rolling between her right hand fingers as she stared down at her notepad filled with various scribbles, bridges, chorus, and other music notes. She looked down at her watch made a face before looking up at the next cart.

"Where _are_ you, Blake?" She muttered, frustration in her voice. She was yet again alone on the bench, a moment that happened in between trains. She had been there waiting for her best friend for what felt like hours, and her patience was beginning to wear thin.

That was before the area around her started spinning. It took a moment before she realized that it wasn't the area that was spinning, but her vision. Glowing an intense yellow color, Maya and her stuff were ripped from the subway bench as if she'd never been there.

. . .

Maya was transported to what seemed to be a room with advanced equipment. Looking around, she said cheerfully, "Not gonna lie, that was intense and I liked it."

As Maya scanned the room, Carissa yet had her eyes tightly shut, just as she had while she whizzed through the air moments earlier to get to her current location. Once certain she felt that she was indeed on solid ground, Carissa slowly opened her eyes. Her mind was flooded with various dark possibilities, all ending with her death.

"Woah..." Blake said from where he was standing, breaking the silence. "Where am I?"

Hearing his voice snapped Carissa out of her dark daze. She looked to the direction of Blake's voice and stepped toward him cautiously.

"H-H-Hello" she stuttered.

Meanwhile, Maya was certain she had recognized that voice. She scanned the room, taking note of a boy sitting at a nearby table, a guy looking very confused with his dog on a leash, a giant tiki head on a nearby wall, and the girl she didn't know was Carissa approaching a young man. Her eyes became big when she saw that young man was indeed the voice she thought she'd recognized: Blake. She walked over to him, pushing his shoulder semi-affectionately.

"Want to tell me what is going on?" She demanded.

"Thank goodness you're here!" Blake said happily, hugging her.

Before Maya, or anyone else, could say another word, a deep voice penetrated the room. Sean, from his place sitting quietly at the table away from the others, was the first to see it was coming from what everyone had thought was a wall decoration.

"Of the people of Earth, you five have been selected to become _Power Rangers_. I am Gosei, guardian of the Earth. I have selected you for a difficult situation. The people of Earth may not appreciate you working to save _any_ of them, because of the actions of General Atlas Nek."

At that, a small door opened up on the wall next to the tiki head. From out of the door stepped Gosei, revealing himself to the people he had selected for his new team. Gosei held out his hand and the morphers he had made for this occasion materialized in the air near each person they were supposed to be assigned to.

"These morphers are unlike any that have ever been used. They have the potential to use the power of all the previous ranger teams that have come before you.

"You must be ready to deal with the problem Nek has created. Ultimately, as Power Rangers, you will act as Earth's last line of defense against evil. General Nek's plans for Earth are proving to be catastrophic. As much as I wish Zordon were here, I will do all I can to handle equipping you with what you need to know for this threat as he would have done for _his_ rangers."

"No, really... what's going on?" Maya found herself asking. The idea of becoming a Power Ranger was intriguing, however, she could not allow herself to image bearing such an opportunity in light of what was happening with Rangers all around the world under General Nek's martial law.

"I mean, I never thought I could become a Power Ranger..." Blake said suddenly, almost muttering to himself.

Carissa looked down at her hand meanwhile, finding the morpher to materialize from its spot hovering near her to her wrist in a pink flash. She looked up at her would be teammate, Blake, as the morpher likewise appeared on his wrist.

Suddenly, a huge smile appeared on his face. "Yeah... I accept!"

Carissa found her stomach to be in knots... she realized she could not match his sentiment. "I'm sorry... this must be a mistake. You meant to bestow this responsibility on someone who _wants_ to help people. There is no way I can be a power Ranger."

All the while, Sean sat in silence. He looked at the morpher that appeared in his hand, then looked at Gosei. Nodding, he decided to break his silence.

"I'll take it only to prove a point to the world..." Sean stated simply as he looked at Carissa and smiled. "If this guy here is telling the truth, then there is no mistake. We were picked for a reason. My name is Sean, and I accept."

"Huh?" Carissa answered in confusion to Sean's statement.

"I'm psyched!" Blake exclaimed happily. "I don't care what anyone else says... I'm in!"

Maya stared at Blake in disbelief. "I was waiting for you on the bench... and now I'm in a strange location. Blake... is this really happening? We're being selected to be _Power Rangers_!? And you're acting like this is _normal_!?"

Before Blake could reply, Gosei stepped forward and smiled at Carissa. "You may keep the morpher, and when you have the need put the power to use, Carissa. I chose you because you have the potential to be stronger than the original Human Pink Ranger, Kimberly Hart. You have a long way to go, but with the right education and training you could surpass all the pinks before you."

"I will try to live up to the past pink rangers." Carissa was shocked to her herself saying as she unstrapped the morpher from her wrist and placed it into her pocket. She couldn't believe she had said that, even with all of the reservations about all of this and what it would mean for her life.

"This is why I keep to myself..." She muttered.

Then, turning to the others, Gosei said, "We have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it in."

Stepping toward Gosei, leaving Maya standing dumbfounded behind him, Blake smiled. "Where do we start!?"

Meanwhile, Sean stood up from his seat and walked up to Carissa. "I know how you feel. This isn't easy to take in... but you really think Mr. Fantasic over there can do it alone?"

Carissa followed Sean's finger as he moved his arm to point. She found herself smiling as she saw he was pointing at the overly eager Blake.

"This guy who gave us powers? He may be the last guy crazy enough to go up against Nek like this... I mean, things haven't really gotten better for anyone ever since the president sided with him and gave the military control over the country to wipe out rangers... So here we are, huh? We're the people selected to be rangers. It's been done before and I guess it's our turn to be plucked out of our mundane lives for this task... And this team needs people like you and me to keep people like _him_ on the ground. Just think it over... please..."

As Sean walked away, back to his seat, Carissa's mind was spinning. How were these people so ready to accept something as crazy as what was going on!? It was beyond her understanding.

Finally finding the courage to speak, Marcus raised his hand (and as he did, the morpher placed itself firmly on his wrist, startling both him and his frightened dog). "Th- thank you, Gosei. I will do my best."

Turning around enthusiastically, Blake put out his hand toward Marcus. "Name's Blake Maxwell!"

Maya continued to stare at Blake incredulously. "Are you _serious_!?"

"My name is Marcus," He replied with a smile, shaking Blake's hand. "Nice to meet you all. I'll try to help out as best I can. I'm a pretty mellow guy and I'll try hard not to cause any waves! Umm... also... could somebody give me a doggy bag for Molly? This has been pretty traumatic for her and she kinda had an accident here on the floor..."

Gosei sighed and asked the computer to get something for Marcus to use. A moment later, a doggy bag appeared near Marcus on the floor.

"We will have a lot of work on our hands," Gosei stated as Marcus began to clean up after his dog. "If you all will follow me, we will go forward to unlock your ranger weaponry. I stored it in a room that requires your five active morphers to unlock the weaponry."

As they walked, Carissa found herself slowing down to walk alongside Sean. Without saying Carissa saying anything, Sean spoke to her yet again.

"I just think we need more grounded rangers..." He said before pointing to Maya. "With those two guys seeming to be a little... spacey... one more like them will doom us all, hehe... I hope she's more like us..."

"I heard that, Sean." Blake said as he followed behind Gosei, with Marcus and a reluctant Maya in tow.

Sean shrugged it off and continued to speak with Maya. "So, I haven't actually introduced myself to you. I'm Sean Anderson."

Carissa watched as Sean stretched out his hand. She hesitated before accepting the handshake.

"Carissa." She said as their hands locked for a few seconds. When she noticed she was still shaking his hand, she quickly pulled back.

"Sorry...kinda awkward. Not sure what social etiquette dictates for meeting people who are going to save the world. Asking 'who is on your playlist' doesn't seem to matter at a time like this. Ya' know?"

 _What are you talking about!?_ She thought, realizing she was going off an a tangent.

At that moment, Gosei waved his hand and opened a door. He motioned for everyone to enter and, as they did, he followed them closely behind. When they all had turned to look at him, he nodded and smiled.

"Your first mission will be to acquire enough technology for me to construct the weapons for your ranger suits, and the zords." Gosei said, opening portals for them so they could go to the areas they needed to.

"Alright, Gosei. Umm... what do you need, exactly? " asked Blake.

"What kind of mentor doesn't have the weaponry we need to combat evil all ready to go? _We_ have to get it?" Carissa sarcastically whispered to Sean.

"I do not have the gear because I used most of my reserves during a previous invasion of Earth, unfortunately," Gosei answered, causing Carissa's face to turn red. "And the rest I used to create your new morphers. I have fine tuned your morphers to be attracted to objects around the world that will be compatible with your powers. As a way for you to familiarize yourselves with what lies in store for you in the future, I am having you each retrieve your objects. I will then process the objects into your new weapons.

"You will all need to head through the portals. From there, you will feel through the Morphing Grid where your object lies. As these are rare artifacts, I and others in the past have put them in places that are not obvious unless you can _feel_ them. Please be careful when trying to extract the artifact. If you need to communicate with me, simply speak into your morpher and you will be able to speak with me," Gosei informed them.

Without another hesitation, Blake ran forward into the red portal. Shrugging, Marcus tied Molly's leash to a hook he saw near the door and followed suit, entering the blue portal. Maya, on the other hand, was not satisfied.

"Are you serious? Why should we trust you!?" She found herself saying, her bottled up emotions spilling out. "This is crazy... you know that, right?"

Sean smiled and looked to Carissa. "Well, at least she's not like that Blake guy, right?"

Gosei nodded slowly. "Miss Fraker? Listen... You were chosen because of your tenacity. Your _Willpower_. You have seen what Nek is doing to the world. I am offering you the opportunity to stop him. Do you not want it?"

Maya stood, staring at Gosei unflinchingly. As she did, she thought of all of the things she'd seen in the news. The Ranger War between Nek and the rangers. The media had tried to paint a picture of how the rangers had gone rogue. How Nek was leading the fight to help humanity not fall under the tyranny of super powered beings... but so many people like Maya knew something was wrong. Time and time again the Power Rangers had saved the world from evil. But no one had the ability to question anything. They couldn't fight back. They had to accept things as they were.

With a slight sigh, Maya simply turned and made her way to the yellow portal. On the other side of the portal, Maya found herself in at the base of a mountain.

"Hmm... I guess this is really happening..." She said, as if for the first time realizing this wasn't just some fantasy. Nodding slowly to herself, she began her trek along a narrow path that seemed to lead up the mountain.

Sean shrugged and looked at Carissa. "I guess you're the rotten egg."

"Wait, what?" She asked, but before she could say another word Sean had walked into the portal.

Sighing, Carissa silently began to walk over to one of the portals. She held her stomach as she did, remembering the uneasy feeling she had while teleporting to her current location.

"Carissa?" Gosei said as she approached the portal. "Good luck. And... thank you for accepting."

Nodding, Carissa slowly stepped through the portal. Unlike teleporting, there was no sensation. She simply _appeared_ on the other side of the portal. Looking around the area quickly, she gathered that she was in a salvage yard.

"Now what?" She asked herself, looking around in confusion.

. . .

Blake's journey had been fairly straightforward: atop a large tree was a bright red stone. Although he wasn't happy about it, Blake climbed up the tree to the top and had retrieved the stone. As he grabbed it, the branch beneath him had broken and he found himself falling through the air. Having closed his eyes, Blake suddenly found himself on the ground in the room Gosei had called the weaponry.

"Huh? How?" Blake asked.

"Upon seizing the stone, you fell through a portal. You are safe," Gosei answered.

"So this is what you wanted?" Blake asked, standing up and showing Gosei the beautiful red stone.

Gosei looked closely at the stone and smiled. "This is the remnant of the Power Crystal that once fueled the the Red Dino Ranger's Power Sword."

Blake's face lit up. "This is totally awesome!"

"I will get the computer working on this immediately," He stated, turning and putting the stone on a scanner.

. . .

On the other side of the portal, Sean found himself in what appeared to be a well manicured park. It was decorated with gorgeous bridges and what appeared to be a waterfall. He looked around and quickly found a statue of a lion a few yards away. In its mouth was some sort of stone...

Sean looked around yet again. He could feel the stone calling out to him. Was the stone what he was supposed to grab? He knew it couldn't be that easy. Shrugging, he took a step forward. That's when he heard the "click" under his foot. Almost instantly, arrows shot at him from nearby pole. He instinctively threw himself onto his back as the arrows chased after where he'd been. He then shot his legs up and, lifting himself off his back with his arms and the momentum from his legs and core, landed onto his feet before launching himself toward the statue. He then touched the stone and that spark from before appeared for a moment.

 _Morgan..._

Shaking his head as another of his frequent headaches began, the stone shined brightly in his hand. At that, a portal opened up.

"Well, that was easier than I thought!" He said happily as he leapt into the portal.

"Gosei, is this what you wanted?" Sean asked as he appeared in the room, holding the stone up proudly.

Gosei nodded. "I am not familiar with this, so I will begin a scan and get your weapon to you soon. Unfortunately, I can only make one weapon at a time. While I finish processing Blake's sword, you two will have to a mission to retrieve some electronics and a few other things. I will get things set up for you momentarily..."

As Gosei walked away, Sean found himself shaking his head. He had the sneaking suspicion Gosei may have been coming up with missions for them on the fly and that this next one was just to occupy time until he finished processing the stones.

"Sean, I got my Power Sword!" Blake said happily as he was petting Marcus' dog.

Sean shrugged. "Good for you."

. . .

In the scrap yard, Carissa lifted various metal scrap parts off the ground, looking underneath them hoping one would "resonate" with her. Her preoccupation with the task did not allow her to see the figure rapidly approaching behind her.

It happen to so fast; she was knocked on to the ground. Her back absorbed most of the impact, sending sharp pains in various directions of her body. She could feel the pressure of a figure, but was unable to see what was pinning her down.

"Cloaking technology. I'm in the right place..." She surmised, summoning enough strength to turn to her left side while striking with her right elbow. A whimper signified she had connected with the figure.

Her strike disrupted the device's ability to cloak the figure, now revealed as a black canine-like creature.

"You must be the guard dog of junkyard." She said, steadying herself for its next attack.

Hanging from its next was a silver device, with some sort of gem attached. Eyeing it, Carissa felt instantly attracted to it. She knew that was her goal.

"Be a good doggie and let me take that collar off, okay?" Carissa said, easing up to the creature. The beast warned Carissa, flashing its sharp teeth accompanied with growls.

Once she was in range, Carissa leapt forward (as did the creature). Carissa moved her body in time to miss the creature's aggressive swipe from its paw, managing to allow her time to grab the collar. With one tug the collar came off, leaving the creature's neck bare. Carissa, satisfied with her achievement, ran behind what appeared to be discarded jet engines.

"Wow, _I can not believe I just pulled that off._ Alright... let's see what was worth almost getting bit for." Carissa stated as she quickly began to pull the gem from off the collar.

. . .

Maya walked along the narrow mountain trail until she came to a part which forked into one part which was broken off due to a large crater, and another which continued on normally. Staring at the part of the path with the massive hole, she felt something strange stir within her. Something told her that it was her new power morpher, telling her that her artifact was indeed down the more treacherous path. She decided to listen to that feeling and so jumped over the gap.

Maya made the landing just fine. The ground beneath her, however, began to crumble. This caused her to begin to slide down the mountain. Her heart was racing faster than it ever had before. The girl tried to stop her descent by grabbing on to any ledge or branch she could, but it was to no avail. Maya knew what her destination was: the very bottom of the mountain.

She didn't know how long she'd been there, stuck with her right foot wedge between two rocks. She'd hit her head rather hard and was fairly certain she'd passed out and had only just awoken... but even then, she wasn't sure if that was what had happened. All she knew was that she was stuck.

After her head had stopped throbbing, Maya gave one more tug on her leg. She let out a sigh of relief when she found herself free from the rocks. She stood up, brushing the dirt off of her clothes. She then looked around the area, locating a cave. Feeling that familiar tingling, she decided to slowly walk in. The air became more and more stale the further she went into the dark area.

After a few meters, Maya came to the end of the tunnel. She was shocked to find it lead into an armory. The wall was line with various weapons. Maya lifted her morpher to her mouth, speaking softly, "Gosei? I have found weapons we can use in battle."

"Weapons... as in plural?" Gosei asked, astonished.

"Yes...? Was that not the plan?" Maya asked, confused.

"I am just surprised," Gosei replied. "I don't know why your morpher would send you there... perhaps your artifact just so happens to be in an armory? This is quite fortunate, indeed!"

 _Is this guy as clueless as he sounds?_ Maya thought, worry gripping her.

"I have a lock on your location. I will teleport everything here for analysis. You will also join Sean and Blake on a mission here soon," Gosei reported.

"Um... I do need to check in with my family, you kn-" Maya started before she fell through a portal that appeared beneath her.

. . .

"Carissa, how are you?" Gosei stated.

"I just finished grabbing my artifact, Gosei," Carissa reported, having literally just managed to pull the gem off the collar. Having to continually hide from the "guard dog" had slowed her down considerably.

"Excellent work. I am also happy to say because of what Maya found, we have the tools we need to commence phase two of our operation to halting Nek's plans for Earth." Gosei reported.

"And that would be...?" Carissa asked, curious.

"There is an old junkyard filled with old zord parts that Nek has hidden. He is going through it to try and create new tech for his army. I have found it recently and, now that I can get for you rangers the weapons you need, I need you join Sean, Blake, and Maya at the junkyard. There are specific items I have told Blake that I need, that we cannot let fall into Nek's hands. I will open up a portal for you to get there and help them."

"What about Marcus?" Carissa asked. "Is he not finished yet?"

There was a silence before Gosei replied. "It appears as if Marcus will not be joining our team after all. I will be looking for a new Blue Ranger to fill out the team."

"Huh? Is he okay? What happened?" Carissa further pressed.

"You will be sent to the junkyard immediately," Was Gosei's only reply as Carissa felt herself fall into a portal. It was a weird transition, falling forward to suddenly be right side up again in the junkyard.

 _That was pretty weird..._ Carissa found herself thinking. _What happened to Marcus?_

Before she could think more about it, Carissa slowed her breathing when she heard something. People talking... Looking up and over some of the garbage in the junkyard, she spotted mean wearing uniforms she'd seen so often on television. Soldiers wearing the uniforms signifying they were General Nek's men.

As she peered from her hiding spot, her attention was drawn to a few of the henchmen carrying various pieces of machinery resembling engines, flight controls, and monitors. One device almost slipped out of the hand of the henchmen; luckily he was able to control his grip preventing, the device from dropping. Another henchmen scolded him, reminding him how important the device was.

"Decision time... either I try to find the others or I try to stop them from gathering more tech right now," Carissa pondered. "Wait... am I buying into this super hero bit? Really?"

Carissa looked down at the gem she snatched off the beast. She recalled how it had some sort of cloaking feature. Carissa took the gem out of device she had pulled off the collar and placed it in the mouth piece of the morpher which had yet been in her pocket. The hand held morpher changed form quickly, attaching itself to her left wrist and becoming a gauntlet.

"Have to admit... that was _tight,_ " She said, her body blending into her surroundings.

Similar to her fight with the beast, Carissa moved in to attack quickly and swiftly. She couldn't believe how easy it was to sneak up on someone and grab them from behind to choke them. Once the first henchmen fell, she saw that the rest of Nek's forces turned their attention in Carissa's direction.

"What the... What happened to Jones!?" One demanded.

"Keep your guard up! Now! We may have _visitors_!" Cried the man who seemed to be the leader.

Unable to see what was going on, the group advanced on the location where this Jones, and consequently the invisible Carissa, were.

 _This is bad... should have called for backup before charging in,_ She thought to herself.

She realized that, even in her cloak mode, she was cornered and would eventually be found out. Closing her eyes, Carissa lifted her gauntlet to her face and yelled as quickly as possible, "Sean! I need your help!"

. . .

"This is so stupid..." Sean muttered under his breath, picking through the scattered pieces of old zords. "It's going to be impossible to find what Gosei is asking here... there's so much of it!"

"Just... just keep working..." Maya said, her face tight and serious.

Sean stood up fully straight and, folding his arms across his chest, looked at her. "What died inside of you and gave you a bad attitude all of a sudden?"

Not looking at him, she continued to work. "Nothing. Um... yeah... let's just keep working..."

Sean furrowed his brow, making his way toward Maya. "Are you okay? Did something happen to you after we separated?"

Maya suddenly jumped back at his words, here eyes wide. "What!? No... um... no! Everything is fine! Nothing happened!"

"What the...? What's going on, Maya!? Why are you acting like this!?" Sean demanded.

"It's nothing! Just leave it alone!" Maya barked, turning her back to Sean and marching off.

"Shh!" Sean snapped. "Nek's forces are _here_ , remember!? Ugh... these people are so stu-"

"Sean! I need your help!"

The voice of Carissa emanated out from Sean's morpher. His heart was suddenly in his throat. Looking at his morpher, he could suddenly feel how it worked, as if a message from the morpher was being sent straight to his mind. He focused on the morpher and an image of Carissa in his mind. Suddenly, a portal opened up before him. Sean dashed out to into the portal. When he got to the other side, he was shocked to see Nek's forces. They were equally as shocked to see Sean, a seemingly ordinary guy appear out of seemingly nowhere.

"You know, Carissa... you know how to really make a guy work for it!" He said with a wink as he stared at the soldiers in front of him.

 _Are you serious!?_ Carissa thought. _He's saying I'm flirting with him_ _!?_

"Who are you!?" The Squad Leader demanded. "How did you get in here!? This is a government secured facility!"

Sean swallowed hard before putting his gauntlet up to his mouth. "Gosei? These Nek guys you spoke of? They're here and there's a lot of 'em... I might be in trouble..."

"Gosei!?" The Squad Leader cried out. "He's a ranger sympathizer! Take him down while I report this!"

As the closest soldier went to reach for Sean, who was in a fighting stance and ready, the yet invisible Carissa blocked the incoming attack and countered with a punch to the left temple knocking the henchmen down. Although he had insinuated she had been flirting with him, she was yet happy he was able to come to her rescue. It was an odd feeling Carissa was not used to.

Before she could linger any longer on the thought, a new henchmen would take the place of the other as this time Sean jumped and kicked the man in the chest, sending him flying back.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Carissa said, backing up to where Sean stood.

Sean pointed at his gauntlet. "It's about time we used this for what's meant for, right?"

Carissa nodded. "You bet!"

Before they could make a move, though, a loud voice was heard from the opposite end of the area in which they were gathered, calling for everyone's attention. Instinctively, everyone turned to see who it was. Sean was the first to break the silence.

"You've got to be kidding me..." He said, shaking his head.

It was Blake. He stood out in the open, his hands on his hips in the best Superman pose he could do. Smiling, he lifted up one arm to point at the soldiers.

"Hey guy's! Time to show these goons what the _Power Rangers_ are really made of!"

The Squad Leader furrowed his brow. "Power Rangers? Weapons out! Now!"

Blake jumped into a fighting stance and put his gauntlet wielding arm out before him. "Ultra Morpher _Activate_!"

Everyone stared in awe as Blake pressed the red button on his morpher. As he did, he was surrounded by an orb of Red Morphing Energy. They were all stunned as it appeared almost as if Blake's body _absorbed_ the energy. Where he stood was only the red silhouette of a figure no one could yet discern.

"Red Ranger Ultra Power!" Blake shouted.

Everyone stood in shock as Blake emerged from the orb. He was wearing a costume similar to that of the White Dino Thunder Ranger, but red in color. He walked slowly out of the cloud of Red Morphing Energy, looking almost sinisterly at those before him.

"First shot's all yours..." Blake said as got into a fighting stance.


	2. Chapter 2: The Junkyard

**The Junkyard**

Gosei watched on the monitor as Blake was the first to morph. It was coming together: the Ultra Force team would lead the way to freeing Earth from Nek Atlas' iron grip.

 _They_ _have_ _to..._ Gosei thought. _We sacrificed too much... It can't end like this..._

As he thought, his mind went back to just earlier that day...

. . .

 _Briarwood Forest_

"Don't let them escape!" A voice yelled.

Several soldiers, followed by various humanoid creatures with purple, slimy bodies, chased five cloaked figures into the forest. One of the figures turned to face the platoon. The other runners stopped, calling to their comrade, "Kyle, what are you doing?"

"General Nek's forces are _relentless_... I can slow them down. It's important the packages reach the extraction point. Go!" He yelled, removing his cloak. As he did, the Caucasian teen pulled out a golden device with a red tab on the side.

"Dai Star Power!" He yelled, pressing the red tab. The device opened, revealing a blue orb. A blue light shone from it, engulfing Kyle. A blue Dai Ranger suit materialized around his body; he extended his hands in the air, creating a helmet. The ranger attached the helmet over his head.

"Let's party," he said, charging at the two monsters.

Taking advantage of the Blue Ranger's interference, the remaining four figures resumed their trek into the forest. Unfortunately, a few of the creatures and soldiers managed to slip past the Blue Dai Ranger.

"Don't look back! Keep pushing forward!" Kyle yelled to the rest of the group as he continued fighting with all his might.

Laser blasts whizzed by the group, striking nearby trees and splintering them. Two of the group members rolled to their left side, avoiding a fallen tree. Their hoods dropped revealing the Pink Mystic Force Ranger Vida Rocca, and Ninjor, creator of the Power Coins and ally to the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

"You okay!?" Vida asked, placing her hands on Ninjor's shoulder.

He nodded.

"Good... not much further," she said, helping the blue armored Ninja to his feet.

One of the other two hooded figures quickly took cover behind a tree, removing his cloak. He revealed himself to be Merrick, the Lunar Wolf Ranger. The Wild Force Ranger summoned his laser cue in his right hand.

"Sniper Mode!" He declared, converting the cue to a ballistic weapon. The Ranger returned fire on the soldiers as Vida and Ninjor regrouped with the third cloaked figure. Merrick signaled the trio, who continued.

As the group reached a clearing in the forest, Vida stopped. "It's here."

Off in the distance, two explosions echoed through the forest. Vida pulled out her Mystic Morpher, extending it to its wand mode while she forced herself not to think of what may have been happening to her comrades. The pink Witch chanted a few incantations, waving the wand in a cursive pattern. The air became shallow, creating a blue swirling portal in the middle of the clearing.

"This doorway leads to the Mystic Mother. Hurry... my Magic is not strong enough to sustain the door..."

A squadron of soldiers then emerged, almost as if on cue, from the forest. They quickly aimed their weapons aimed at the trio.

"For violating numerous ranger ordinances established by General Nek, I order you to _surrender_!" A soldier yelled.

A sly smile crept across Vida's face. "Yeah, like _that's_ going to happen. You guys are _pushovers_ ," Vida said, summoning a gust of wind and knocking the soldiers on their backs. Her attention then returned to Ninjor and the other figure. She shook her head, urging them to escape, gasping suddenly as she felt a wave of pain sweep through her body.

"Door... Magic not strong... bad guys closing in... but, yeah... take your time..." She stated in between breaths, adding her characteristic sarcasm at the end.

"Thank you, Vida," the last cloaked figure said. "My condolences on those you have lost during this war. I will do everything I can to ensure all of your sacrifices are not in vain."

Vida fought back the pain as memories of the carnage of this war Nek had ensued played in her mind. Biting down hard, she turned to face the recovering soldiers. As she did, Ninjor and the cloaked figured jumped into the portal. After a moment, they were suddenly in safe territory, landing in the throne room of the Mystic Mother.

"Ninjor and Gosei?" Mystic Mother asked, unsure of the other figure.

He confirmed the former villainess' suspicion, removing his cloak and revealing his identity as the former mentor to the Megaforce Rangers.

"You know why we are here?" Ninjor asked.

Mystic Mother nodded. "Yes... I've monitored the General Nek situation since he occupied the Sacred Forest. The Mystic Rangers fought valiantly, but like many other Ranger teams... we experienced losses..."

"If I lived for another eon, never would I imagine the Power Rangers hunted liked fugitives," Ninjor said.

"Now more than ever, the Ultra Defense Protocol _must_ be enacted," Gosei said.

"Gosei, are you sure these powers should be granted to new people instead of former Rangers?" Ninjor asked.

"This power _must_ be earned like any other. While I share the concern of bringing rookies into war, I trust that the Badges will find suitable individuals to become Rangers. Once they are selected, I will train them and hone their skills to become the perfect team to fight back."

"Very well, let's begin. General Nek's forces are on the move," Mystic Mother said, speaking as she brought herself out of her quick meditation to ascertain Nek's army's whereabouts.

Ninjor then removed five Power Coins from a pouch and tossed them in the air. The Coins hovered above Mystic Mother; she held up her staff, infusing the Coins with her Magic. Five Badges were then created, seemingly coming from the Coins themselves. They channeled and reshaped the power of all documented Rangers from Zordon's original Dino Rangers, down to Gosei's very own Megaforce.

Gosei took the Badge and then looked to his colleagues. "Thank you all for everything. I promise I will do everything I can to finally _end_ this."

Mystic Mother nodded, waving her hand to open up a portal to Gosei's base. "I trust you, my friend. Ninjor and I will try and defend the Magic Realm while you fight for Earth."

At that, Gosei smiled. "Well, I _am_ Earth's guardian... I will live up to that title. Until we meet again."

"May the Power protect you," Ninjor stated as Gosei stepped through the portal and returned to his base.

The monitors in the Command Center lit with various images of General Nek's forces battling Rangers as Gosei appeared, reacting to his presence. He scowled at the images, disgusted by Earth's mightiest heroes being treated like criminals.

"It is time to execute the Ultra Defense," Gosei said outloud as held out his hands. He nodded to himself one last time before repeating to himself, "It's time..."

From his palm, a pulse erupted. He could feel it happening: the Badges were working through his power. They were summoning those currently worthy to be the next generation of Power Rangers to come to him. He knew there was no time to waste; much needed to be accomplished. The Ultra Rangers had to be stronger than previous Rangers if they were to succeed.

 _And succeed we_ _must..._ Gosei had thought as each ranger appeared before him.

Gosei's mind continued playing the events which had transpired. The rangers had all gone through their portals to find their weapons. It was a rite of passage of sorts. One part of the Badges worked based on the recipient's worthiness: instead of Gosei gathering the artifacts for them, the Rangers were able to increase their bond to their Badge through the act of finding the artifact to power their weapons. It also gave Gosei time to track down the necessary parts he needed to create the team's zords. Now that the Badges were operational, he could finalize the zords and bring them online.

And things had gone well: Blake had been the first to accomplish his task, with Sean following right afterward. Gosei was pleased with them and, having tracked down the parts needed to a Nek-owned property disguised as a junkyard, had them go to scout the area and wait for the rest of their team.

"Gosei? I have found weapons we can use in battle," Maya's voice was heard saying.

"Weapons... as in plural?" Gosei found himself asking, astonished.

"Yes...? Was that not the plan?" Maya asked, Gosei hearing the confusion in her voice.

"I am just surprised," Gosei replied honestly. "I don't know why your morpher would send you there... perhaps your artifact just so happens to be in an armory? This is quite fortunate, indeed!"

 _Intriguing..._ Gosei thought. _It's almost as if Fate herself is helping us... now the rangers won't need to wait as long for weapons. Fantastic!_

"I have a lock on your location. I will teleport everything here for analysis. You will also join Sean and Blake on a mission here soon," Gosei reported before sending Maya to him.

"Um... I do need to check in with my family, you kn-" Maya was heard saying before the teleportation got her back to the base. "-ow. Ouch!"

"My apologies," Gosei said as Maya picked herself off the floor. "My teleportation system isn't totally reliable at times. That is why I have tried to switch to the portal system."

"Great..." Maya muttered. "How is everyone else?"

"I am still waiting for Marcus and Carissa to finish their missions," Gosei stated.

"Mine was pretty... dangerous..." Maya stated, a hint of resentment in her voice. "Any way we can see how they are doing?"

Gosei nodded and waved his hand. As he did, one of the screens flickered on and showed to Maya what the Blue Ranger, Marcus, was up to. He had apparently stripped down to his boxers. Maya and Gosei watched as Marcus began stepping into a body of water before him. Maya could see Marcus tense up as he waded in. His Badge sent out pulses, rippling through the water. They watched Marcus continue his trek until he no longer had any beach underneath his feet, forcing him to kick his feet to stay afloat.

The Badge stopped pulsing suddenly. Marcus took a deep breath and dove down. As he swam, he saw a shimmering blue light ahead. Marcus hoped he could reach the item before his body would force him to resurface. The water was murky, hindering his depth perception. He was an average swimmer; his lungs could handle a minute of concealed air. His chest tightened as time went along. The Badge in his hand pulsed more with each stroke, and Marcus struggled to fight the urge to gasp for air.

Marcus pushed through, his lungs burning, finally reaching the light. It was a blue gem encased in stone. With his free hand he tried to lift the rock, but to no avail. He knew he was quickly running out of time, so in a bit of desperation he touched the Badge itself to the rock. He was only slightly surprised to see the pulse freed the gem from its place. Almost as if he had no choice, he reached out and touched the gem. In a blue flash, a shark-themed cannon materialized in its place.

The swimmer grabbed the base. He knew his time was up; trying to keep his mind calm, he aimed the weapon beneath him and fired a jet stream, propelling himself out of the water. Marcus let out a huge gasp for air as he flew over the body of water. Never had air tasted sweeter to him than at that moment! He landed, surprisingly gently, on the sand of the beach. He then gathered his clothes and returned to the Command Center via a blue portal which opened before him.

Gosei stifled some laughter as Marcus made his way to him. The look on Marcus' face spoke volumes, and Gosei was amused by how flustered Marcus seemed, but also at _how_ Marcus had gotten himself out of his situation.

"Ruff?" Marcus' dog, Molly, seemed to ask as her master reappeared in the room.

Marcus sighed, looking at her. "I'm fine... I guess... don't worry, Molly."

"Very resourceful Marcus; using the Shark Cannon to escape. Behind me is a room you can clean up." Gosei stated with a smile.

Marcus did not reply; he simply sat the power weapon on the table before exiting the main room.

"He doesn't seem to think it was as funny as you did," Maya stated, frowning a bit. "He was obviously distressed."

Gosei nodded slowly. "You're right, Maya. I should prob-"

Suddenly, an alarm began. As the sound echoed throughout the room, Gosei pressed a button on one of the consoles. Two of the viewing screens displayed the junkyard Sean and Blake were already scouting.

"Computer? Zoom in," Gosei ordered.

The video was enhanced, showing movement. Gosei was shocked to see hundreds of Nek's men picking through the refuge. "Apparently Nek had a similar idea in the 'Recycling Tech Department' as I did," Gosei stated.

"What's going on?" Marcus asked, rushing in quickly as he dried his hair with a towel. He quickly glanced at his dog, who sat silently, seemingly unphased by the alarm.

"This scrap yard has the remains of zords, destroyed in earlier zord battles. Nek has gathered them and has kept them hidden from eager individuals. I sent Sean and Blake there to scout ahead until all five of you can go in and take some parts I need out of there... Unfortunately, it appears as if Nek's men are there, too. It would seem as if Nek is readying himself to make zords of his own," Gosei answered.

Maya looked over at Marcus, whose face appeared to have become petrified watching the soldiers on the screen. His hand had unconsciously gripped the handle of his Shark Cannon, still on the table where he'd left it. Maya looked at the screen: Sean and Blake were mere feet away from the henchmen. Maya knew that sooner or later, they'd have to fight. Getting a look of determination on her face, Maya placed the gauntlet on her left arm and looked at Marcus.

"If we stand a chance it's going to take _all_ of us," she said as Gosei opened up a portal beside her. "Let's get going, Marcus. They're gonna need us."

Marcus clenched his jaw and shook his head violently. "No... no way... I mean, what Nek has done to Harwood? It's uncalled for! What he has done to our country... the innocents who have been caught in the crossfire... like my girlfriend... I... I mean, when you asked me to be a ranger I thought, 'yeah! I can help take a beat down to Nek for what he did to my girlfriend!' But all of this? I could have _died_ while getting this stupid super soaker! And now you want me to go out there and fight these trained soldiers!? Are you nuts!? I have no experience doing this kind of stuff at all!"

Gosei furrowed his brow. "Marcus... listen... The morpher will help guide your actions in battle. It wi-"

"No! I... I can't do this!" Marcus cried out, pulling the Shark Cannon off the table, causing Molly to let put a sharp whine. "I... I want to do this my own way, okay? Not like this!"

"Marcus...?" Maya stated. "It seems like you want revenge more than anything. I get that, okay? But-"

"No!" Marcus screamed, taking another step back. "Stay away from me!"

Pursing his lips, Gosei took a step toward Marcus. "Listen... Marcus? You have to underst-"

Marcus suddenly found himself pointing the Shark Cannon at Gosei and Maya. "Please... just... let me go..."

Gosei's expression darkened considerably. Maya saw this, and felt her stomach get tied in knots.

"Oh, Marcus..." Gosei stated. "I believe this may have all been a mistake..."

. . .

Gosei shook his head. He didn't want to think about what had happened next. He knew that what he had to do after that had been [i]necessary[/i]... he would have to move on. He had rangers in the here and now who needed him.

"Rangers!" Gosei shouted, speaking them via their Badges. "Follow in Blake's example! _Morph now_!"

. . .

The moment had come for Carissa. Would she embrace her new lifestyle, or continue to find ways to back out? She looked up and watched as the Red Ultra Force Ranger, Blake, fought the soldiers as if it was second nature to him. His bravery spoke volumes.

Decision time; in or out? She thought. Sighing, she summoned the silver badge in her right hand; somehow she knew what moves to make in activating her transformation.

"Pink Ranger Ultra Power!" She yelled.

Within seconds, Carissa was clad in pink spandex. Instantly the knowledge of the previous Pink Rangers filled her head; weapons, attack formations, and finishing moves. Her head throbbed for a few seconds. She shook her head, orienting herself to the battle at hand.

"We going to do this or what?" She asked as two henchmen charged at her, becoming aware of her presence again after she morphed.

Sean was taking on a large group on his own, at least twice the size of the other two Rangers' groups. He flipped over a few of them and kicked them forward.

"This is too easy...you guys morphed for no reason!" Sean declared, continuing to fight like a madman.

 _How is he doing that!?_ Carissa thought in awe. _Fighting unmorphed!? I didn't think he'd be the daredevil type..._

At that moment, a group of two soldiers grabbed ahold of him from behind.

"We need him alive!" The Squad Leader declared. "All of them! Bring them to the general _alive_!"

"What!?" Sean cried out, surprised he'd been apprehended. "Oh, okay then..."

Sean suddenly kicked up and, with his momentum, flipped them both to the ground. At that, he took out his Badge from his jeans pocket and inserted it into the Gauntlet. "Guess I'll give into the peer pressure. Let's go! It's morphin' time! Black Ranger Ultra Power!"

He smiled as he placed his Badge into the morpher and Black Morphing Energy appeared around him. It formed his suit while a lion appeared behind him. It bit down on his head, forming his helmet.

"With the strength of the lion! I am Ultra Force Black!" He declared as more henchmen charged at him.

Meanwhile, Maya finally found her way to the commotion. After he minor disagreement with Sean earlier, she had found herself separated from the others and could not easily get to them because of the amount of soldiers in the area. She had thought to create a portal, but Gosei had told her that with Nek's forces so close, a portal would draw too much attention to her and it was possible they'd be waiting for her on the other side. So, she had to trudge and make her way to her teammates by carefully traversing the landscape and keeping herself hidden. Fortunately for her, she had made her way directly next to the Red Ultra Force Ranger. Smiling, she jumped out from where she was hidden and stood next to him as he caused a group of soldiers to fall onto their backs.

"Blake, you started the party without me!" She teased. She then lifted her left arm, revealing her Gosei Gauntlet. "Time for a quick change... Yellow Ranger Ultra Power!"

Blake watched in awe as Maya's body was consumed by Yellow Morphing Energy. It formed a ranger battle suit around her almost instantly. Wasting no time, Maya began her assault on the henchmen as they courageously attacked the rangers before them.

"Maya, are you okay!?" Asked Blake as he ran up to his friend to help her out.

The Yellow Ranger gave her Ranger partner a thumbs up before karate chopping a foe in the neck.

"Drago Sword!" Yelled Blake, the sword materializing in his hand. He then charged the ooze-covered Monsters who were among the soldiers at full speed, cutting through at least ten of them. The fallen henchmen exploded in one blast.

"Alright, let's trash 'em, guys!" Yelled Blake, satisfied with his fight.

On the other side of the battle the Pink Ranger backflipped, avoiding two ooze grunts. She then quickly retaliated with body punches. Her two opponents keeled over in pain. The Ranger executed an elbow drop to their necks, disposing of them.

"Spark Blaster!" Carissa exclaimed, summoning her sidearm weapon as if by instinct. She unloaded a series of pink blasts into the crowd of Nek's forces, who were quickly becoming more composed of Monsters as the Humans began to flee the scene. The creatures' chests erupted with small pink explosions.

"Finally I understand the second amendment defenders; who needs a sword when I can do _this_!?" She joked, firing at a few more grunts. "Sean, how are you doing over there?"

The Black Ranger couldn't believe how slow his opponents looked to him. He took each one out with only a few hits. After a few moments, though, reinforcements entered the junkyard... and began overwhelming the Black Ranger. Noting the difficulty level rising, he smirked behind his visor and put his hand out in front of him. As he did, a lance formed from seemingly out of nowhere.

" _Leo Lance_!" He exclaimed, swinging the weapon around and disposing of goop-covered villains. After he finished with them, he ran over to Carissa. He offered a friendly nod.

"Aw... so you were worried about me? It's cute... but we can both handle ourselves, it seems," he said.

Large blasts erupted around them as Sean spoke. Before anyone could react, the Rangers found themselves blasted off their feet.

"What...what was that...?" Sean managed to mumble, trying to get himself off the ground.

"I don't know, man... but it hurts..." said Blake as he, too, tried to pick himself up.

"Guess the big bad didn't care for us disposing of his men," Maya groaned as she struggled to stand on her feet. Once erected, her legs wobbled from the pain.

"Hire stronger henchmen," Carissa snorted, slowly rising to her feet. She held her left arm with her right hand. Her weapon lay next to her foot. She looked over at the two boys as they struggled to find their balance. The Ranger suits provided protection from the blast, but each Ranger's body _ached_.

Suddenly, there was a moment of silence. Then, almost ceremoniously, the henchmen parted like the Red Sea. The air seemed to shift, as each ranger felt keenly aware that something in the environment had changed. Like hawks, the rangers watched stunned as the ooze creatures finished opening up a path. Then, like a surreal nightmare, General Nek Atlas himself walked to the front of his warriors. His presence was bold and intimidating. He seemed to be impossibly tall, with just as many muscles. Carissa and Maya both felt the tension he created; their bodies trembled under the pressure. Sean felt, oddly enough, nonplussed at Nek's presence. Blake, however, felt Fear grip him tightly... though he would never admit to it.

"Everyone be on your guard," Maya warned, stiff in a fighting pose.

"Hello, General!" Blake suddenly said, trying to fill not only himself but also his team with confidence. "So... you here to finally be taken down? Seems pretty stupid of you to face us yourself."

Silence. Nek simply began to take three step paces, eyeing the rangers as he walked back and forth. His eyes seemed to penetrate their visors, being able to stare deeply into their souls.

Carissa lifted her gauntlet to her mouth. "Gosei... anytime you want to offer battle strategies, weak spots, or anything _helpful..._ we would appreciate it."

There was no response.

Carissa carefully watched Nek's movement. She would not allow herself to be taken by surprise again.

Sean looked at Nek. Upon eye contact, Sean seized up; images invaded his mind. He was unable to keep the images straight. He saw himself fighting with Nek nearby. They were in a forest of some sort. Nek's facial features seemed to shift from his dark skin to pale, ivory skin. His neatly kept hair seemed to transition from its black color to long, flowing blonde hair at random times. Sean envisioned himself leaping, blood dripping from his mouth as he did while Nek only laughed.

 _Have I fought Nek before, or was it something else?_ Sean wondered. _This... feels weird..._

The images began to race through his mind, creating as it were a fever in Sean's frenzied mind. Reaching a peak, Sean let out a growl and clutched the Leo Lance tightly, suddenly rushing at Nek. His intention was to stab the general, but Nek simply reached out and caught the staff in his hand. Sean was shocked at his opponent's quick reflexes.

Nek gave a slight smile. He then flexed his forearm and broke the Black Ranger's lance. He then reacted quickly and grabbed Sean by the neck, lifting him up off the ground.

"Let me give you something to remember me by..." Nek said calmly as his smile widened.

The rangers stared in terror, unable to move, as they heard Sean cry out in pain. Carissa noticed Nek's veins bulging oddly on his forearm... they were a horrendous black color and looked almost as if they were _pulsating._

The general, having displayed only an _ounce_ of his power, then shifted his weight before thrusting the Black Ranger across the battlefield. Sean crashed into a pile of damaged machinery as his suit began to spark Morphing Energy. The morph broke, reverting Sean to his civilian form. Disoriented, he tried to stand but to no avail, for as he did rubble from the machinery he'd hit fell on top of him. He didn't even have time to utter a cry for help before being buried alive.

Acting on instinct, Maya rushed to Sean's location. She began lifting the rubble off the fallen Ranger, sweat pouring down her brow.

"Stay with us, Sean," she whispered mostly to herself. She dug feverishly, tossing rubble over to the side. She could hear signs of life underneath the pile, calming her a bit.

Meanwhile, Nek shook his head in disappointment. He then turned around and began to walk away from the area.

"You can finish them now," he stated simply. "They are of no use to me at this level of power."

Carissa kicked her weapon up in the air as she heard him speak, grabbing the blaster with her uninjured hand. She lined up her shot with the back of Nek's head. Her finger wrapped around the trigger. Two scenarios played out in her head: one, the battle would end with Nek's death; and the other, more likely to happen scenario... Nek would kill her.

Nek disappeared into the crowd of henchmen, and the Ranger lowered her weapon. She'd hesitated for too long... she'd missed her opportunity to attack.

"I... I can't do this..." she found herself saying, throat tightening.

"Pity yourself after we finish here!" Maya suddenly yelled, rushing forward from where she'd been moments earlier, digging Sean out of the rubble. She'd gotten him out enough that she felt he was out of critical danger, but once she'd heard Nek leaving... she flung herself back into battle.

Upon Maya's sudden attack, the remainder of Nek's forces advanced on the Rangers.

"For possession of Ranger powers, by the authority of General Nek, you will be terminated!" A Human henchmen yelled.

The Pink Ranger attached a nozzle to the tip of her blaster. She aimed her weapon at a few of the grunts.

"Scatter Shots!" She yelled as she jumped vertically into the air. Several pink blasts collided with the henchmen, destroying them upon contact. The Ranger holstered her weapon once the last creature was dead.

Blake, meanwhile, had taken to attacking the Humans. He took care to not injure them... _too_ badly. It took every ounce of his Willpower to not deal deadly blows against the people who he saw were oppressing the people of the world. Once the last of them had retreated (leaving many scattered about, unconscious), Blake regrouped with Maya and Carissa as they helped remove the final pieces of debris over Sean. Blake then felt the ground tremble. He turned around and then, seeing what he thought was impossible, gulped loudly.

"Guys, we have a slight problem," He paused, overcome by Fear. "Giant freaking Monster standing right behind us! It's coming our way!"

Maya had been best friends with Blake for several years and was shocked when she saw him run for cover. It was rare to see Blake run from _anything_.

 _He must be terrified_, she thought.

Sean couldn't even stand; his head was throbbing. Sean kept looking at the ground. He tried to look up, but the pain he had in his neck was too great to even _try_ to move. With a broken and pained voice he spoke, hoping everyone could hear him.

"We... can't take this... we have to fall back..." he said, trying to get up but falling back to the ground.

 _Morgan..._

There it was again. That name echoing through Sean's mind... but what did it mean? Who was Morgan?

"Let's go back to the Command Center, talk to Gosei!" Blake yelled over the booming of the Monster heading their way. "Maybe he can help us get through this!?"

"I know retreating sounds like a good plan right now, especially since Sean is badly hurt, but the city _cannot_ afford for us not to attempt bringing the creature down!" Maya yelled as she helped Carissa lift up Sean. She hoped her words would inspire her fellow Rangers to act, though how she wasn't yet sure.

"I agree with you, however-" Carissa started to say.

"I knew an objection was coming..." Maya interrupted, groaning within herself. She slid her right shoulder underneath Sean's left arm, providing leverage.

"I believe we need to regroup to get some answers and devise a sound plan!" Carissa yelled over the sound of the approaching Monster; typically she had no problem pointing out the negatives in life, but this time was different—the negatives meant potential lives could be lost.

It was at that moment that the weight of Carissa's Ranger responsibility registered. Their first outing not only determined their fates as individuals, but on a much larger scale what their roles would be in protecting Earth.

Carissa came back from her heavy, complex thoughts. "Yes... retreating is the most sound option..."

As she reiterated her thoughts, she lifted her Gauntlet to the sky. A pink portal appeared before the Rangers, leading to the Command Center. The ground shook violently as the creature moved towards the Rangers.

 _How did I do that!?_ Carissa wondered.

"Time to go!" She yelled, running through the portal into the Command Center. Begrudgingly Maya followed, bringing Sean along with her.

Blake stopped for a moment, looking back at the Monster. Clenching his fist in frustration, he turned back around and followed his teammates. The portal closed behind him.

"Are you guys okay?" Asked Blake as he brushed the dirt off his suit.

Maya nodded her head. "I'm fine, Blake. Thanks for your concern."

At that, Carissa scanned the room. Neither Marcus nor Gosei was present. Marcus' weapon no longer laid on the table.

"Interesting time to be an absentee," Carissa thought outloud. "Really could've used Marcus' help out there..."

"I wonder where he went," Blake agreed. "Did you happen to see him, Maya?"

"I, um... well, he-" Maya began.

"Ugh..." Sean suddenly moaned, beginning to lose his balance after Maya shifted her body.

Steadying himself, Sean took his arm from off his Ranger partner. He couldn't tell who it was... but by the feel of how they held him up by being shorter than him, he figured it must have been one of the girls. He staggered over and sat in a chair that was nearby. He knew he would be okay... or at least he hoped.

 _Soon I'm gonna shake this off and beat the crap out of Nek... Who does he think he is, messing with us like this!?_ Sean thought, deciding he would gain the power to beat Nek with his own two hands. Next time, he wouldn't need his lance. He would fight Nek _mano a mano_.

Suddenly, Gosei entered the main room; he seemed distraught.

"Gosei, what's your problem!?" Blake demanded. He then suddenly rushed at Gosei.

Maya stepped in front of Blake, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Blake, calm down! Gosei deserves our respect."

Carissa snorted at the Yellow Ranger's statement. "For the first time today I'm on the same page with _Blake_ , strange as that is... _Definitely_ could have had a heads up on _Nek himself_ crashing the party."

"Gosei, you're our mentor! You're supposed to guide us… give us something that shows you actually care!" Blake yelled.

Gosei was silent. He and Maya exchanged quick glances before Maya decided to speak up.

"I am sure there is a reasonable explanation for the lack of communication. Gosei hasn't steered us wrong thus far," Maya stated. "I mean... the zord parts were there. I was able to scan a lot of stuff and send some parts back via portal before things escalated back there."

Sean, forcing himself to sit up straight, started to speak. "Everyone... stop... Gosei is _not_ all-knowing..."

He tried to get up at that point, but just fell back into the chair. Sean took a few deep breaths and looked at everyone again. "If we are going to beat him... we have to be _stronger_. We can't just hold Gosei like a crutch,"

Carissa tried to go to Sean to help him, but he motioned for he to stand back. Using as much strength as he could muster, he was able to get himself standing up off the chair. Things were still hazy, but he pushed through it and walked over to his teammates.

"If this is going to work... we have to stay calm and build on ourselves, guys," Sean said in between breaths; he almost fell, but reached out and used Maya to keep his balance.

"Sean's right," Blake said after a moment of silence before turning his attention to a monitor. "We need to get rid of this Monster, though, or else there will be nothing but rubble and dust... You said you got Gosei some info... I think we should try a Megazord."

"We can't form a Megazord, Blake. I can't even stand," Sean argued.

"This so extra right now. I knew I should have left when I first got here," Carissa said, rolling her eyes.

"Like Sean suggested, we rely on one another if we are to stand a chance in defeating this creature. Nek didn't appear in the junkyard until he saw how formidable our team was battling his henchmen. This Monster is him afraid of what we can do," Maya said, hoping to use some sort of logic to keep optimism in the ranks.

"Pep talk received," Carissa said.

"We need to call upon the zords we found among the rubble in the junkyard," Blake stated. "Is this possible, Gosei."

Almost as if he was being summoned out of a stupor, Gosei looked up and stared at Blake. "... Yes, Blake. Your zords have a warrior mode almost as powerful as a Megazord. I say we use it to our benefit until Sean is at full strength. The remaining three of you will fight the Monster in Warrior Mode," Gosei state.

"Actually, Carissa, do you mind staying here with Sean to make sure he's okay?" Maya asked.

Carissa waited a few seconds before answering. "I guess I can do that... So just the two of you against the Monster? Let's get Marcus from wherever he's hiding and have him help you, then."

"Marcus will be unable to join you for battle," Gosei said suddenly and abruptly.

Blake had questions. "Whatever is going on with him, this is mor-"

"No time for explanations." Maya said quickly, grabbing Blake and pulling him along. "You're with me. Let's go!"

"Follow the flashing lights in the hallways," Ordered Gosei. "They will take you to the Hangar Bay."

"Be careful," Carissa sighed under her breath to her teammates as she helped Sean onto his chair.

"Now Sean... what's happening with you?" Gosei asked. "You seem to be having a particularly hard time recovering... what happened!?"

. . .

Maya and Blake entered the hangar. It was a large and spacious area. Maya could see herself getting lost in a place like this.

Suddenly, Gosei's voice echoed in the room. "Rangers, welcome to the hangar. Housed in the hangar are your Ultra Zords, G Cycles, and other vehicles used for combat and rescue missions. The information you gathered was enough to get a few of them online and ready. The Zord simulator is located in this hangar as well, but given the urgency of the task at hand both of you will have to pilot the Zords blind. Use your Badges to activate the interfaces. Both pilots _must_ be in sync with one another to successfully operate Warrior Mode."

Maya wrapped her arm around Blake's neck. "Not a problem for best friends; we know each other well."

From beneath the hangar two armored vehicles rose to the runway. The hangar doors opened to the city.

"Rangers, the portal will transport you to the battlefield. Go now!" Gosei said.

The Yellow Ranger left her friend's side, running towards the vehicle. Within seconds she was inside the cockpit. Instinctively, she placed her Gosei Badge into the console, activating the Zord interface.

"Panther Crawler, roll out!" Maya yelled. The Zord exited the hangar, reappearing at the edge of the city and blocking the creature's path.

"Alright, Maya, let's do this!" Blake shouted, trailing in his vehicle shortly behind his friend. "General Nek isn't gonna know what hit him! Red Drago Battlezord, _take flight_!"

Blake then placed his Gosei Badge into the console before him. As his zord blasted off, Blake flew it over top of Maya's zord. Hoping to get a lay of the machine's functions, Blake caused his zord to do a few barrel rolls in the sky. It felt almost like second nature to him.

"This is so awesome! I- look! There it is!" Blake yelled out over the intercom.

Below them was their target: a massive, green and grey creature. Instead of limbs it had two tentacles protruding from its rounded torso. First glance made it appear as if it were obese, but closer inspection showed muscles protruding from the skin. The beast was a musclebound block of power.

Blake, seeing the Monster as he flew in closer, decided to fire a few shots. As he did, the Monster swatted at Blake's zord like a fly.

"Let's try this out… Red Drago Battlezord, Warrior Mode! Initiate!" Blake yelled as he pulled the lever. A flash of lightning shot down from the sky and hit the Zord. It shifted, and the flying zord transformed into a giant robotic warrior.

The creature wrapped its tentacles around a smokestack, tearing it from a factory. The Monster then repeatedly bashed the Drago Battlezord with the stack. Seeing the attack, Maya caused the Panther Crawler to fire two cannon blasts, pushing the creature backwards. In retaliation, the Monster flung the smoke stack like a missile onto the roof of the zord. The impact from the weapon shook the zord violently.

"Rough ride... Time to link up," Maya said. She entered a three digit code on her console, activating a new transformation.

The Panther Crawler began disassembling and attaching itself to various parts of the Drago Battlezord. At the end of the transformation, the Panther Crawler provided Blake's zord with extra armor and two shoulder mounted cannons.

"Armor Link Complete!" A voice from the console echoed inside her cockpit.

"This is cool," she said cheerfully, suddenly finding herself sitting next to Blake in a cockpit.

Her time to admire the tech was shortlived, unfortunately, as the Monster went on the offensive against the new zords. The zord shook as the beast attempted an attack, narrowly missing a vital strike.

"Right... giant Monster more important than my nerdiness at the moment... Blake!? I'm sending you the data from my scanners indicating the creature's weak spot; aim there and this will be _over_... I think..." Maya said, uploading the scanner's data to Blake's console.

Back at the Command Center, Carissa watched the battle on the viewing screen. Her concentration was interrupted by Sean's labored breathing; she turned to his direction. Unable to convey her concerns physically, she turned her attention back to the screen, asking, "You're not, like, going to die on us or anything... right?"

Sean sat up. "Die...? Not even close, but they can't win like this... we need to have a better plan," he said, breathing heavily.

As he tried to get out of his bed, a great voice came from the Command Center.

"Sean, you have been badly hurt." Gosei's voice was heard saying as an orb of light surrounded Sean.

Sean looked down in awe as most of the major wounds seemed healed. "This should help for now. This Magic will temporarily heal you of your wounds. All of you need to work together to beat this Monster. It is proving too difficult for your teammates."

Sean tightened his fists, knowing he could fight once again. "Oh... that won't be a problem... I'm coming, guys!"

With that, he morphed and ran to the hangar. Carissa ran after him, shocked at the sudden development. At he got to the hangar, Sean's attention went straight to a zord... and he knew it was his Leo Railer.

"A Monorail...and a lion. Well, guess it makes since I _am_ carrying this team, right, Carissa?" He said as he jumped in.

"Wait... you're _what_!? I had to carry _you_!" Carissa countered, not sure if she was supposed to take his comment seriously or not.

"Leo Railer online and heading out!" Sean was suddenly heard saying over Carissa's helmet communicator.

Speeding out of the hangar, Sean beelined to where the rangers were fighting. He drove the Leo Railer straight into the legs of the Monster.

"Yo, you guys look like you could use a little help!" Sean said as he waved at them with two fingers.

The force from the Leo Railer dropped the tentacle Monster to its left knee.

"Another one joins the party! No matter the numbers or the fancy vehicles you bring, your fate will be the same as the previous Rangers who dared to stand before Atlas... your will all face your _destruction_ ," the creature said, regaining its footing.

The creature drove its tentacles into the ground underneath the Rangers' vehicles. Erupting like worms out of the ground, the Monster's appendages wrapped around the zords, constricting their mobility. Several bursts of electrical energy traveled down the tentacles into the zords.

"Agh!" Carissa screamed as her flying zord got caught and stunned. "There's gotta be another way!"

. . .

In his chambers, Nek watched the battle. Technicians scurried around, keeping track of the battle and the Monster's vitals. All the while, though, they kept glancing at Nek. They worried he was angry at the Monster not having finished the rangers yet... but he showed no emotion. He simply watched the screen with cold intensity.

As the Leo Railer pulled in, he glanced at one of the scientists nearby. "We're going to need something better than monsters to deal with these Rangers. Get me…" he paused, thinking. "Get the White Enforcer. She's competent."

"Yes sir." The tech answered, rushing off as quickly as he could.

. . .

Maya's cockpit rained sparks around her; she yanked on controls, hoping to counter the monster's attack. Her controls were unresponsive. Several frustrated sighs later, Maya pushed the correct sequence of buttons, reducing the damage she'd taken.

"Darn it... this is not working, Maya! We need to try something else…" Blake complained. "Alright, Sean? Your zord can combine with Maya's from what I'm seeing on my control panel. My Zord can then form with yours to form the Panthera-Drago Megazord... at least I think that's what this says..."

Maya frantically pressed a few buttons on her consoles, firing secondary blasts at the creature's tentacles. The creature howled in pain, releasing both Zords from its grasp.

"Done playing around!" The creature roared. It began to spin in a circle, flailing its tentacles about.

"Brace for impact!" Maya warned. The tentacles smacked the zord in several places.

"Hull integrity has been compromised. Any more hits like this and we will lose the Megazord. If you guys are linking up, let's do this _now,_ " Maya said.

"Begin armor link sequence _now_ ," Blake commanded as he punched in a few commands into his console.

"Armor link sequence initiating," said the computer console.

"Let's rip this guy a new one!" Sean proclaimed.

All of a sudden, the Panther and Leo Railer started to disassemble and form armor around the Drago Battlezord.

The feedback from the three Zords combined to push the creature back a few meters. It stood there, smacking the ground with its tentacles as its war cry. The battle had gone on longer than it had anticipated. General Nek was not an entity you wanted to upset, and he feared he had hit that threshold. The creature charged at the armored Drago Battlezord, dragging the left tentacle on the ground while swinging the other above its head like a chain.

"This is guy is so _annoying!_ As much fun as this has been, I'm _ending_ this rampage," Maya said, pulling up the weapons system on her console. She cycled through a few options before selecting her favorite. "Laser Barrage!"

The zords unloaded a series of laser blasts at the charging creature. Each hit burned the Monster, leaving a black mark. The creature's tentacles fell to the ground, writhing around like worms.

"Though you have defeated me... I am comforted in my final moments to know General Nek _will_ be victorious!" The creature yelled, falling to ground. Its body fizzled away in green smoke.

Carissa smiled at the Monster's defeat. That's when she glanced at the time showing on the zord's console. Her heart was suddenly in her throat.

"Dang, I didn't realize we were gone this long..." She said. "We gotta get back to the Command Center!"

. . .

"I have to get back home," Carissa said, staring at the numerous texts from her mother she'd missed. "Um... I'm still not sure if I'm up for this, but I'm going to try. I have to go home _now_ ,"

"Okay, Carissa. I am ver-" Gosei started, but before he could finish Carissa had opened up a portal and had rushed through it.

Carissa returned home. In one motion she nodded at her mom and went upstairs to her room. She could hear her mother yelling after her, but she could feign that she hadn't heard her later. The teen flopped down on her bed. Staring up at the ceiling, she allowed the day's events to wash over her. The soreness she felt from the battle would not allow her to write off her experience as a fevered dream.

It was real; teleporting, walking through portals, wrestling with a rabid dog, morphing and fighting... There was a part of her that regretted not joining the zord battle sooner and even then, she'd been hit hard and was unable to join in the Megazord configuration.

Carissa rolled on her side as she thought, thinking about her teammates. The energetic Blake, the absent Marcus, Maya who seem friendly, and then there was Sean. A smile crept along her face, surprising her.

 _And in spite of all of this... I'm still worried about getting home on time to do homework... Life is not gonna get any easier, will it?_

. . .

"Alright! We did it guys!" Said Blake ecstatically as Carissa left abruptly.

"That was intense. I was unsure if we would pull it off. It was fortunate you assisted when you did, Sean. A shame Carissa was unable to join us for the final Megazord," Maya said.

"Yeah, and Marcus," Blake added, to Maya's silence.

"I am proud of you all," Gosei stated, a large smile on his face. "You are making the rangers who sacrificed to make your team possible very, very proud."

At that, Sean suddenly stumbled backwards as the effects of the orb Gosei had put over him began to wear off. He leaned against the center console, vision spinning.

"Glad to help," he sighed, holding in the contents of his stomach.

"You need to rest!" Blake stated, worrying about his teammate.

"I'll... be fine..." Sean grumbled, sitting back down on his chair.

"Gosei... What happened to Marcus?" Blake asked, ready for Gosei to _finally_ explain himself.

"I fear Marcus' presence in the zord battle would have hindered your victory... In time all of you will develop the confidence needed to embrace this opportunity. Each of you has fought valiantly; be proud of yourselves. Today you proved to General Nek that the world is no longer at his mercy. Return to your homes; we will begin training soon," Gosei said.

Blake had a confused look on his face. "Yeah, but I-"

Maya nodded at her mentor and then spoke loudly over Blake. "Thank you for everything, Gosei. I'll see you guys later. This is just the beginning!"

"See ya, Maya!" Blake replied happily as Maya left through a portal. "Well... now I am going to sleep, too! Even a Ranger needs his sleep, I suppose!"

As he heard Gosei bid him farewell, Blake found himself stepping into his apartment. He looked around, almost feeling as if what he'd just endured had been one long, bizarre dream.

"Steel? Come here, boy!" Blake said excitedly, calling his three-year-old Alaskan Malamute over to him. Blake then climbed into his bed, sighing. He threw a tennis ball across the apartment for his dog to catch. As he watched Steel play with the ball, he remembered the dog Molly and her owner, Marcus.

"Hunh... Gosei never answered my question..." Blake wondered aloud. "What the heck happened to Marcus!?"

. . .

Sean watched the Red and Yellow Rangers return to their homes. His weight was being supported by the console as he tried to stand back up.

"I noticed you glossed over Blake's question," Sean said.

"A conversation for another time. I suspect from your posture the pain has returned. The injuries you sustained from your fight with General Nek were graver than I suspect. Best to return home to your home, Sean. I am certain your family is worried about you," Gosei said.

Sean stared at Gosei for a moment. The man was hiding something. That much was obvious... but he was right. Uncle Sal was probably worried sick, wondering where Sean was. The pain had returned much sooner than anyone had anticipated: it had returned during the last moments of the zord fight. The pain had been ramping up from there, and Sean knew he needed his sleep. Playing twenty questions with this powerful Wizard he didn't want to dispense any answers, Sean knew, would be pointless. Sean conceded, limping through a portal to his loft. He passed out on his couch as he heard his uncle call out his name.

. . .

General Nek turned away from the screen as the battle ended, facing the woman who'd just entered. She was several years younger, Filipino, and wearing a grey uniform. Her expression was carefully blank.

"This is all?" She asked.

"They've only fought us twice so far," he replied.

"It's not much to study from."

"No. Perhaps you should try luring them out to test them?" Nek suggested.

The woman gave a nod of acknowledgment. "Should I attack now?"

"No. I want to track them for the moment and find out a little more about them." General Nek turned back to the computers. "Dismissed."

Silently, the woman slipped out. She had her mission parameters and she would execute them perfectly. That's what she did for Nek... and she would _not_ fail.


	3. Chapter 3: Smoothies

Chapter Three: Smoothies

Carissa walked into an empty kitchen. On the table was a plate filled with pancakes, sausage, and eggs. She took the seat in front of the plate of food. Next to the plate was a note from her mother wishing her a great day and that she would be working a later shift that day. Carissa slid the note away from her, sighing in the process.

As she looked down at the pancakes, a puzzled look appeared on her face. The color and texture of the pancakes looked... different from usual. She took a small bite and quickly realized what the difference was... her mom had purchased the wheat pancakes. The teen made disgusted face as she swallowed the bite.

"Thanks, Mom," she muttered sarcastically.

Carissa then got up and walked over to the kitchen cabinet, rummaging through it contents. Her eyes lit up when she found the syrup.

"Smother anything in sugary sweetness and it will taste better. Pretty sure it defeats the purpose of being healthy wheat pancakes, but I'm not eating those as is," she said to herself before turning on the TV on the kitchen counter.

"The giant tentacled monster was stopped from destroying our fair city, thanks to a new team of Power Rangers. Not much is known about these Rangers, but this reporter is glad for our multicolored saviors. Channel 7 will keep you up to date with latest Ranger developments," the reporter said.

Carissa turned the TV off. She was grateful for the fact that there were still news stations who were willing to report the truth, not catering to Nek's new regime. She swallowed hard as she thought that, though. She knew it was only a matter of time (months, years even... but the trend around the nation showed it to be eventual nonetheless) before there would be a change in management... or the station would be altogether dismantled by the government (under non-related reasons, of course).

For her, it was too weird hearing about the rangers' exploits, because they were her exploits. Carissa was still in a state of disbelief about everything. She remembered when she was younger when the Armada attacked the Earth... many people likened the invasion to the final battle between the Space Rangers and Astronema. She was a baby back during that infamous day, but in both situations the rangers had banded together to defeat their respective foes.

When General Nek rose up in the government and basically usurped it for his own agenda, ranger teams once again aligned to defeat the latest villain. However, General Nek proved a fiercer warrior than those of the past, disabling, isolating, and hunting down the legendary rangers. General Nek had accomplished what his predecessors had not: widespread (but not complete) conquest over the Power Rangers of Earth. His influence over the United States government had given him the power to not be like the exogenous forces of the "evil space aliens" of the past, but come at the Rangers from a source they believed would be their ally. With the power he had obtained (and the mysterious politics surrounding his interactions with high powered individuals at the time), Nek had been able to convince the Powers That Be that the Rangers were in fact enemies of the state-or at least, that it would be dangerous to oppose his claims...

And the war against all Rangers started...

Carissa could not understand how Gosei expected her to carry out his goal of stopping General Nek, when more experience rangers had fallen in battle. This thought had plagued her mind throughout the battle the day before. Her pessimistic attitude caused her to conclude yesterday's triumph had been mostly dumb luck.

How long until the our luck runs out? She asked herself. I... I have to tell him I can not do this.

The girl looked down at her watch: it was time for school. She would have to digest the rest of yesterday's event at a later time. In the here and now, she had to digest her breakfast first. She took a final bite of her syrup soaked pancake before scurrying across the room, grabbing her book bag.

"Newspaper meeting in sixteen minutes... Back to normalcy..." she said, trying to convince herself.

. . .

"Oooomygosh, I'm so sore." Maya rested on the rubber floor mat. The other gym patrons walked around her. Maya's trainer loomed over her.

"I'm a little surprised at you today. Typically you tire around the fourth round. You barely got through round one. Everything ok?" He asked.

"I'm fine... yesterday I went hardcore... suffering the effects..." she groaned.

"You're seeing another trainer?" He asked, gesturing a broken heart.

Maya cracked a smile, "Girl has got to explore her options... not going to deadlift 300 with this regimen."

He dropped a towel on her face.

"You're not going to deadlift 50 if you push yourself too hard without proper rest." He said, extending his hand.

Maya grabbed his hand, pulling herself up; she removed the towel before speaking. "You've been subscribing to Scott Herman Fitness videos again, haven't you?" She joked.

"Have you looked at him?" He asked.

"Not for the same reasons you have, but I promise I will take it easy. My body has to adjust to new activity. I will see you next week." Maya replied, tossing the towel back the trainer. She rushed into the locker room, exiting twenty minutes later. She walked up to the juice counter.

"I'll have a peach lemonade smoothie with a creatine shot," She ordered.

The girl behind the counter prepared the juice mixture. Maya paid for the drink and left the gym. The coolness of the drink soothed Maya. Her smartphone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled the phone out, checking the status bar. She had a text message from Blake.

A smile crept across her face.

"How awesome was yesterday! Want to hang out?" The text read.

She placed the smoothie on a nearby bench to respond.

"Blake we definitely need to catch up yesterday was amazing...just let me know when you want to link up."

She pushed send.

She took a seat on the bench. Maya watched a few people pass by. She smiled at an elderly couple holding hands, a dad with his little girl on his shoulders, and a group of college students sharing a few laughs between them.

Her mind wandered to yesterday... it still seemed like a blur. One minute she was waiting for her best friend at the station and the next, she was thrust into a world of Monsters and Rangers. While Maya never imagined herself stepping in the same path walked on by Samurai, Overdrive, Lightspeed, or any other ranger teams... she was ready to take on the ranger mantle.

. . .

At his apartment Blake whistled for his dog Steele, who ran to his master happily. Steele rubbed his head against Blake's leg. Smiling, Blake grabbed the dog's leash from the hook by the door and latched it to his collar. He then pulled out his phone and saw Maya's response. He anxiously sent a reply.

"I'm ready whenever you are. I brought Steel with me. I figured I take him out for a walk today if you want to join us."

Opening the door, he let his dog lead the way. As they exited the apartment building, Blake started thinking about his team.

I can't believe Maya and I are Power Rangers now! Maybe this might bring us closer... Blake thought to himself, smiling.

Blake and Maya had been best friends for years. When they were younger they were inseparable. Blake had thought of Maya as his partner in crime, almost like a sister. However, since graduating college, Blake had begun to develop romantic feelings for her. He was unsure how to approach the situation, and had tried to convince himself those feelings weren't real for a bit as well. Typically he was confident when it came to women, but Maya was different. She knew him unlike anyone else. After he realized his feelings were real, his posture around her seemed to crumble more and more.

Their history was rich in experiences, both good and bad. Blake did not want to introduce the concept of dating if it would compromise their friendship. As he thought, he found that he had walked out of his apartment and was nearly at the designated meeting spot. Stopping in middle of the sidewalk, he motioned for to Steele to let him know it was okay to pace around for a bit.

I couldn't imagine life without her. Maybe it's best to focus on beating up monsters instead of all of this relationship stuff...

"What do you think, boy?" Blake asked, leaning over and rubbing Steele on top his head. The dog jumped up comforted his owner, as if he'd read Blake's mind.

Blake's phone buzzed. It was another reply from Maya.

"That sounds great, I love playing with Steele. Meet you at Grove park; it's dog friendly. I'm leaving the gym...I can meet you there in 15 mins..."

Blake's pulse raced and he wore his smile like a necklace. "Who knows? This could be the start of an epic romance. Let's go boy!"

A cheerful Blake ran down the sidewalk as quickly as he could. As they did, he spotted a gyro cart. The Mediterranean smell reminded Blake he had not eaten breakfast.

Dang, I'm hungry! I think it's time for lunch, Blake thought to himself.

He turned around and ordered a lamb gyro. The vendor handed the boy his order and Blake gave the vendor exact change.

"Thank you, sir. Have a great day!" He said, bouncing down the sidewalk. His mind had shifted from Maya again to becoming a Power Ranger. Unlike his teammates, Blake had always dreamt of being recruited into a ranger team, even if only as a wild fantasy. He had never believed he could become Red Ranger, though. History taught him that traditionally, red was the leader of the group.

Blake recalled yesterday's adventure in his mind. The pressure to lead had not been present in his mind until the giant monster fight. Prior to the zord battle, everything had occurred in an accelerated fashion. He hadn't had time to process everything... but in hindsight, Blake felt responsible for Sean's injury. He wished he had fought General Nek with Sean instead of being frozen in place due to Fear. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was his duty as leader to protect his team. But that didn't change the reality of what had actually happened: Sean had squared off with the villain and was now suffering greatly because of it.

"I will become the leader my team needs..." Blake thought aloud, clenching his fist around his end of Steele's leash.

. . .

Jezebel scanned the street, trying to look casual but just making herself seem more suspicious. She'd made an effort to blend in, dressing casually and hanging out in an area filled with college students her age, but her militaristic demeanor and the way she studied the faces of the passing adults belied her outfit.

By the voice registers and what was known about Power Rangers in general, Nek's scientists had guessed that the new team was composed of young adults or teenagers, or quite possibly a mix of both. So, before she revealed herself as an enemy, Jezebel had been assigned to find them out-of-morph to see if she could learn more about them.

Jezebel had already checked the local college's bookstore, college-friendly restaurants, and coffee shops. Each location housed young adults, but none of the people matched the limited descriptions Jezebel was given. The operative decided to continue her search in a larger public area. She saw a sign for Grove Park. The park would give Jezebel the perfect vantage point to scan without appearing suspicious.

. . .

Carissa dragged herself into second period, her US History class. She took her seat where a test lay on her desk. A wave of anxiety washed over her.

"Mr. Fox? Can we have a few minutes to check our notes?" She asked, reaching into her book bag.

"No time. Please begin with your test. There is no need to be nervous! You always do well." He said, moving to the front of the class.

Carissa sighed in frustration. Her plan to review for the test yesterday evening had been replaced with donning spandex and fighting alien creatures. The test in front of her was challenging: unlike previous exams, Carissa was unsure of her answers and smashed words together to form somewhat coherent short answers.

She continued to stare at the test as Mr. Fox collected it; the teacher gave his star pupil a reassuring smile, so she forced one in return. It had felt like seconds had passed by since she'd arrived in class, but in reality it had been the entire twenty-five minutes set aside for the exam. Carissa placed her head down on the desk, mumbling unrecognizable words. The rest of the class was a blur, her mind occupied with what she knew was a poor performance on the test.

She wondered how the others were adjusting to returning to their normal lives; did they have the same difficulties? There wasn't much discussion between the group before they were thrust into battle with General Nek. Compared to Blake, Maya, and Sean, she seemed the youngest of the group.

"Probably college," she whispered to herself, suspecting their status. One of her classmates glanced at her. Carissa gestured an apology as the student returned her attention to the teacher. Carissa left the class feeling dejected as the bell rang.

Sitting in first period lunch, Carissa was shocked as she heard her name over the intercom. She was being summoned to her counselor's office.

A few moments later, Carissa sat across from her counselor in his office. Both individuals were silent, waiting for the other to speak. The counselor widened his eyes, indicating he wanted Carissa to begin. She slowly sunk in her seat, her visual cue that she was refusing to speak. As she did, her eyes scanned the room looking for any focal point, avoiding his gaze. Carissa hated to admit how skilled her counselor was at eliciting conversation; especially subjects she typically kept guarded.

"I'm sure by now Mr. Fox told you I bombed his exam," she said, giving up her stance and breaking the silence. "I'm not sure why he felt the need to tell you my business. I mean, yeah... I know you're supposed to make sure we are doing okay with our academics... or is this is about me not completing the entry on the school's blog...? I told you I was having a hard time writing on those, you know..."

"Pretentious jocks, yes I remember. Thank you for recognizing my position. Mr. Fox is indeed concerned about your performance on his exam, as am I, coupled with some of my observations of you throughout today," Her counselor stated.

Carissa raised an eyebrow. "I haven't even seen you today. You spying on me?"

Ignoring her, he continued. "It appears you are harboring... Well... did something happen yesterday evening?"

Carissa's eyes grew wide in shock. Was he spying on me!? Does he know... that I'm a Power Ranger!?

. . .

At the park Blake walked down the sidewalk, gyro and leash in hand. He spotted Maya sitting on a bench and waved. He then proceeded to walk over to her, heart thumping.

Maya smiled as she was greeted by her best friend and his energetic four-legged friend. She stood up, opening her arms wide and inviting the dog to jump into her arms. She did not adjust for his weight, so he knocked her back onto the grass. Maya giggled with each lick of Steele's wet, cool, semi-rough tongue.

"Such a good boy! I missed you!" She declared, lifting the dog above her head.

"So Maya... how are you feeling after yesterday's little adventure?" Asked Blake, rubbing his dog's back as he continued to try to lap at Maya's face.

"Little is understating it; minus the soreness I strangely feel good. Not even alright, but good!

"Yesterday felt right. I'm not one to talk of Fate and destiny... but I have no other words to describe the harmony between the four of us. You know? Anyway... how are you processing our superhero debut?" She asked, brushing dog hair off her clothes.

"I loved it, Maya. It did feel so right! It felt like I was destined for this... I feel empowered for once and in control," Blake said. As he said the word destined, though, a wave of warmth flowed through him. It was something he couldn't quite describe. The words weren't there, yet the feeling lingered.

"Interesting choice of words. I agree, becoming a ranger brought a feeling of confidence I was unaware of. Funny how life presents challenges... Either you rise to the occasion or you falter." She said, returning to the park bench.

As she sat, Maya looked around the park at the people before speaking again. "The news stations put the zord fight on a media blitz. There have been other ranger teams, task forces, and other heroes who have fallen to General Nek, so some of the stations are excited about covering a new team. But I couldn't help but think that yesterday we only managed to just get by. We need to become stronger... we owe it to those who bravely opposed Nek before us to become stronger... to give the planet Hope."

"I know," Blake replied simply, looking down at the sidewalk as he sat next to her on the bench. He was only half listening to her, that odd feeling he had not leaving him. Although it felt good (if that was the right word to use for the foreign feeling), it yet left him uneasy for how unfamiliar it was to him. Something about the feeling he couldn't quite place his finger on...

After a moment of silence between the two of them, Blake tried to speak again. As he did, his communicator beeped, interrupting the conversation. Maya looked around the area: no one was observing them. She nodded, and Blake pulled the device out of his pocket

"What is it, Gosei?" He asked.

"Rangers? I have detected another ranger signature nearby your area. It is unlike the powers I have granted you and one I am not familiar with. This individual could prove to be a useful ally in future battles against General Nek. Scout the site for anyone matching the ranger signature," Gosei instructed.

"How do we find the ranger?" Maya asked.

"I am uploading the frequency to a device I will be sending shortly. Be careful rangers... if I have detected this individual, then General Nek probably has as well and will likely send a strike team to eradicate the lone Ranger. Whoever this ranger is must not be aware of the need to cloak their Morphing Energy signatures like I have with your Gauntlets," Gosei answered.

A silver device appeared in Maya's hand. She fiddled with some of the buttons at the bottom of it before the screen turned on. The visual output screen was similar to a radar screen.

Blake grabbed the device from his friend's hand and started to walk with it. Maya gave him a dirty look he didn't notice.

"My bad..." She said sarcastically. "I should have known to give it to the Red Ranger."

"No problem..." Blake replied distractedly, all focus on the scanning device. "I think we might have a match..."

"Conveniently quick," Maya muttered, chasing after Blake and Steele as they ran toward the signal.

. . .

Within a minute, the device chimed indicating the match to the ranger signature was right before them. Blake looked up from the screen at the young woman a few steps away ahead of him. If Blake didn't know any better, it looked as if she was already watching them.

Could the girl standing in front of us really be a ranger? He wondered.

Blake opened with introductions. "Hi! I'm Blake and this is my friend Maya,"

Maya nodded as Blake held out his hand to the girl. Could it really have been this easy to find the new ranger? If so... Nek may be just around the corner...

In her peripheral view, Maya tried to look for anything suspicious. An attack from Nek surely was something she wanted to be ready for. Once her mind was at ease for the time being, she returned her attention to the girl.

Slowly, Jezebel reached forward and shook Blake's hand. "Jezebel. And what is that device and why is it beeping?"

"Quite an interesting name!" Blake answered, smiling.

"Huh?" Both Jezebel and Maya inadvertently found themselves saying.

"Well, I've not heard it outside of reading in various books describing women with that name as... um," Blake stopped himself, realizing the rest of his sentence may possibly be perceived as offensive.

"Yes... Interesting name!" Maya repeated quickly, slightly embarrassed by Blake's rambling.

Oddly enough, the name did send up a red flag in Maya's mind. She tried not to judge people, but Blake was right: historically "Jezebels" were portrayed as false prophets, deceitful, manipulating, and with the intent to do evil.

While it was possible the person standing in front of them shared the name and none of the traits of those women, Maya could not deny her feeling. It was the same sort of feeling she told Blake she had about being a ranger, but this time... it felt more like a warning than anything else. Perhaps a sixth sense of becoming a ranger? Or was she just anxious about meeting a new person and she was attributing her apprehension of a Nek attack to this woman?

Jezebel frowned a little. "So I've heard... Apparently my parents had not; according to them they just 'liked the name.'"

She'd gotten picked on for her name once or twice, though most bullies weren't well-read enough to know what to taunt her with. Her given name was actually Dyesebel. Her parents had named her after a popular mermaid character from her native Filipino culture. Upon moving to the US, though, her parents had her adopt the Anglicized version of the name (Jezebel) without knowing the connotations behind it. They felt as if it was easier to pronounce Jezebel instead of Dyesebel for North Americans.

And now look at me... she thought. Working for General Nek Atlas... Maybe it was my fate to have this name after all...

"So Jezebel... are you new in town?" Asked Blake, conspicuously looking for a morpher on Jezebel's person.

"Fairly new, yes. I'm looking for a job," Jezebel lied.

"Looking for anything in particular? I might know a few places that are hiring," Maya said.

"I volunteer at a school for kids with special needs and we are looking for more volunteers," Blake added.

"I'd take that offer, but unfortunately I need an income, so I'll be seeking full-time employment," Jezebel replied. "I prefer outdoor work and I have a degree in agriculture, though, if that helps."

"I know there a few plant nurseries in the city," Maya offered, pulling out her smartphone; a few swipes later she held out her phone to Jezebel to see the listing of nurseries.

Jezebel looked over the list, and nodded. She hadn't been expecting this kind of treatment; it seemed...roundabout and too nice. "Thank you. I will investigate some of these."

"You're welcome! Wanna hang out with my friend and I?" Blake asked.

Maya was not surprised at Blake's invitation. He never meets a stranger, always a potential friend.

"Hang out?" Jezebel repeated. She wondered if they were trying to get her away from the crowd before discussing anything Ranger-ish. "I suppose so? What places do you usually 'hang out' around here?"

Maya pocketed her phone before answering, "Depends on your interests! If you're a big kid at heart, we've got Adventure Landing. They have mini golf, kart racing, and laser tag. We've got Amusement Mile, which as the name suggests is an amusement park. Blendz, which is a smoothie shop where they play some indie and underground music. I don't want to sound like a walking Yelp app... but this city has pretty much anything you can think of!"

"Knowing your city is nothing to be ashamed of. Knowledge is always useful. I think I would prefer Blendz, though; I do not particularly enjoy loud noise or crowds," Jezebel replied. She offered her hand to Steele to sniff.

"Blendz it is then!" Blake chuckled. Steele started to sniff Jezebel's hand before he licked it.

"I think he likes you!" Blake said. "He is a good judge of character! Steele always knows a good person when he sees one"

Jezebel smiled at the dog, and scratched underneath his chin. No, he really isn't... but he's a cute thing, nonetheless.

"The feeling is mutual. You're gorgeous, yes you are." Her voice got softer as she talked to the animal. She suddenly retracted her hand quickly, realizing she had gotten too comfortable with the dog and resumed her normal cold demeanor.

"Great! I can go for a pomegranate blueberry blast, myself. The music isn't loud enough to where you cannot have a conversation. I think you'll like it. It's only a few blocks from here. It's best to head there now before all the college kids pile in," Maya said, walking away from the duo. Maya pulled her left sleeve back revealing her morpher. Inconspicuously, she began contacting her other teammates.

. . .

As Carissa's communicator chimed, the counselor gave her a strange look. "Interesting ringtone."

"I have to take this." She said, standing up and heading to the door.

Looking back at her counselor, she sighed. "I know I did not emote very well today and I will deny saying this in the future, but... thank you for listening."

"Of course," The counselor added. "I'm sorry about how stressed out you have been the past couple of days. Please let me know how I can help alleviate your pain."

She smiled and exited the room. Just as she did, the communicator chimed again. She feared Gosei would task her with another mission or fight. Her academics had suffered enough already.

I'm not skipping school to fight aliens, she thought.

Across from the counselor's office was an empty room. She entered, locking the door behind her.

"Hell-oh?" She said, her tone reflecting her annoyance at being called at school.

Carissa was surprised to hear Maya's voice from the Gauntlet. She was also happy to hear how she dismissed her bad attitude.

"Carissa, it's Maya... I need you to check something for me," she said.

"Does it have to be done right at this very moment? No clue what you're doing, but I'm in school. The school frowns upon their students leaving campus for no reason," Carissa replied.

"This is not a social call. Apologies for contacting you at school, but Sean did not respond to the call and time is of the essence," Maya said.

"Well, what about Marcus?" Carissa almost implored, anxiety beginning to well up in her chest.

Carissa stood awkwardly as nothing but silence permeated the room from the Gauntlet for what felt like an eternity. Then, as if Carissa hadn't said anything, Maya began speaking again.

"Blake and I met a young woman who possesses ranger powers. They seem to be different from ours. Gosei asked us to check it out before Nek arrives to kill her or something," Maya explained.

"Okay…? And you want me to…?" Carissa trailed off.

"Run a background check on the woman. Her name is Jezebel. Too serendipitous how quickly we found her. It's a lot I'm asking, but it's important. We can not reveal ourselves until we are sure who we're dealing with. I gotta go."

Maya then ended the conversation unceremoniously. Sighing, Carissa peaked her head in the hallway. The sounds of lockers slamming shut echoed down the hall. She stepped back into the empty classroom, touching her communicator. As she did, a pink energy bolt zipped from the wrist mounted device and opened a pink portal in front of her. She stepped through, sighing heavily as she found herself once again in the Command Center. It was a bit of an odd moment for her, as if entering it that day finally confirmed that everything she'd been through the day before was real and not some horrible nightmare.

Gosei had a confused look on his face as he felt the energy from the portal behind him. "Carissa, why are you not in school?"

"Good question!" Carissa stated sarcastically. "Maya called me earlier. She thinks they have found the ranger you are looking for, but she has a strange feeling about her. I came to see if you had any useful information for me? Blake and Maya have taken the girl to a public spot to get a feel of her and want me to find stuff out about her, but all they gave me was a first name. I... I kinda don't know what they wanted from me... I mean, I'm just some high school kid and they give me some random person's first name and expect me to go all NCIS and find info on the person."

"I see... give me a few moments, please," he replied.

"Sure... why not?" Carissa grumbled as Gosei turned to his console. "Not like I have anywhere to be... I'm so gonna hear about this from my counselor tomorrow..."

. . .

Blendz turned out to be surprisingly pleasant to Jezebel. She ordered a passion fruit smoothie and looked over to her two companions quietly as she drank. They seemed like normal kids. Then again, so had her old team...

"So Jezebel, how long have you been in town for?" Asked Blake, taking a sip from his shake.

"As previously mentioned, I'm new to area," she replied shortly.

Blake nodded. "Oh, okay... I'll be back, I'm going to get another smoothie. Maya? Make sure Steele doesn't get into trouble."

Maya furrowed her brow. "Yes, sir."

Yet again unaware of his tone toward Maya, Blake left the table and stood in front of the counter, waiting to place another order. He was unsure what to make of Jezebel. The device had brought Maya and him to her, but at the moment there was nothing distinguishable about her. Of course he had only been a ranger for a day... How could he tell what another ranger looked like?

"Can I get a chocolate-banana smoothie, please?" Blake asked the barista. As he did, he looked back at Maya and Jezebel. Looking at them, that same feeling of good he'd felt before hit him. It was almost nauseating. He had no idea what it was and quickly turned to look away, hoping the feeling would leave him.

Meanwhile, Maya sat across from Jezebel. Since ordering her own smoothie, she had remained quiet. With Blake gone, Maya decided to speak up.

"So, Jezebel... what's your story?" Maya asked.

Jezebel shrugged. "Most of the excitement in my life happened long ago. I moved here from the Philippines when I was little, grew up, went to college, graduated, and now I'm here. What about you?"

Maya suddenly found herself opening up to Jezebel's simple question. "I dunno... Sometimes I feel like I'm in the beginning of an epic story, ya' know? Nothing individually significant has happened to me. Unlike yourself, I have not traveled outside of this area. Partly because I am not sure what I want to do and partly because of Fear. Which, to those around me, they would never suspect. That even includes Blake here. But in reality? I have my doubts, fears, and insecurities. However, I still push through... even with a recent... responsibility I've acquired, in the midst of our city being the next stop for General Nek's conquest because of the new rangers... I have hopes for something greater. My story is just beginning!"

Jezebel wasn't sure how to respond to Maya's... "soul-baring". However, she did catch an intriguing detail, and immediately followed up on it.

"What new responsibility do you mean?" She inquired, casually taking a sip of her smoothie.

"I'm back!" Blake announced suddenly, taking a sip from his smoothie as he sat down between Jezebel and Maya.

"Of course..." Jezebel muttered under her breath so that only she could hear.

Maya realized she slipped up in her earlier answer; she thought of a few deflecting statements. As she did, her phone vibrated on the table. She glanced at it, smiling at the text received.

"In response to your question..." Maya said, leaning over to take a sip of her smooth.

"What question?" Blake asked, much to Jezebel's irritation.

"About a new responsibility I just got," Maya said nonchalantly. "I just recently became a Power Ranger."


End file.
